Four Corners John Nau

• 1 Riffing On A Daydream 05:34
• 2 River Run 04:50
• 3 Lupita 06:03
• 4 Kid Art 05:00
• 5 Four Corners/Beautiful And Magnificent 06:29
• 6 Day Hike 03:41
• 7 The Butterfly Verses The Wind 02:16
• 8 Wandering 05:09
• 9 Vespers 03:56
• Total Runtime 42:58

Info for Four Corners

The first four tunes on this album are compositions I've been working on for a while, and they finally felt ready to be recorded. The first one, Riffing On A Daydream, started as an improvisation I recorded on my phone. At the time, I called it JN vs. the Dishes because my wife was doing the dishes, and you can hear the clanking of pots and pans in the background. I’ve cleaned it up a bit since then.

River Run is more of a CTI throwback, nothing too special—just a piece of music that features Katisse Buckingham on alto flute and me on a Minimoog, which was fun to use.

Then there’s Lupita, in 6/8. I really like this tune, especially with Nick Mancini contributing on vibraphone. I sometimes prefer longer forms over shorter ones—I call them "storybook tunes" because they take you on a journey, hopefully.

Finally, there's Kid Art. I like the simplicity of this one. The playing is good, not great, but it has a vibe that I dig. Like a kid, you just make something and move on.

Four Corners Suite -

The inspiration for this suite was twofold. First, I had been working steadily for several years, creating music for television, commercials, and film, and I desperately needed an outlet where there were no rules or "notes" to follow. Second, both my parents had passed away, and this project felt like a fitting tribute to honor them and my family—a remembrance of all the times we spent backpacking and camping in the Sierra Mountains, Arizona (the Grand Canyon) Utah, New Mexico, and other such places.

The Four Corners Suite is a musical story about the adventures of spending a week at a time in these remote spots. The opening piece, Four Corners/Beautiful and Magnificent, begins with the sound of a radio, which sets the tone for the journey, and then evolves into a storm at Lake Powell. I found an old tape of my dad recounting the events of the looming storm, as well as a recording of him during one of his last Thanksgivings, giving thanks.

Next is a tune called Day Hike, which is fairly self-explanatory, followed by The Butterfly Versus the Wind. If I could animate this, it would be a butterfly struggling to stay afloat amidst gusts of wind and rain—the piano represents the butterfly, and the other musical elements represent the forces of nature. Wandering reflects my mind wandering, perhaps daydreaming or meditating, and finally, Vespers serves as a hymn, a prayer service in the woods—a moment of gratitude.

John Nau is a Los Angeles area musician and composer. John has performed on multi-platinum records and toured globally as a keyboardist for notable bands such as Hootie and the Blowfish, James Blunt, and Belinda Carlisle. He has also found success with his own groups, including Zoo People, Digital Monk, and The Januaries.

John Nau, piano, Minimoog, Hammond B-3, synthesizer
John Ferraro, drums, percussion
Trey Henry, bass
Brian Chapman, guitars, voice
Christine Wu, violin
Elizabeth Hedman, violin
Ashoka Thiagarajan, violin
Mei Chang, violin
Rodney Wirtz, viola
Leah Katz, viola
Ginger Murphy, cello
Garik Terzain, cello
Thom Rotella, guitar on River Run
Katisse Buckingham, alto flute on River Run
Nick Mancini, vibraphone on Lupita
Kara Nau, voice on Kid Art
Nailah Hunter, harp on Beautiful And Magnificent, The Butterfly Verses The Wind, Wandering
Doug Nau, voice on Beautiful And Magnificent
Mark Hollingsworth, flute, alto flute, clarinets. string and woodwind arrangement on Beautiful And Magnificent
Mark Visher, flute and soprano sax on Day Hike
Davey Chegwidden, percussion on Wandering
Amy Keys, voice on Vespers

Recorded at Dragonfly Creek Studios
Recorded, mixed and engineered by Charley Pollard
Mastered by Patricia Sullivan
Produced by Brian Chapman

John Nau
is a musician and award-winning composer and producer. He is co-owner of Beacon Street Studios. A native of Southern California, John plays piano, organ, guitar, and flute, and has been a professional musician for over 35 years. John grew up in a household that fostered his creativity and opened his mind to where his music career would eventually lead. This path took him from garage bands to musical theatre, jazz and latin bands, to musical director for the ESPY awards live telecast and playing keys on multiplatinum records, Hootie and the Blowfish and James Blunt among the most notable.

After many years traveling the globe playing music, in 2001 John cofounded Beacon Street Studios, where he composes for film, television, and commercials with business and musical partner Andrew Feltenstein. Located on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, California, Beacon Street Studios was formed by John and Andrew with the intention of composing music for television commercials. They have since expanded the company to include sound design and final mix.

For almost two decades, the Beacon Street team has composed music for thousands of spots in a highly competitive market, and some have gone on to earn Clio and Emmy awards. Recently they composed music for four 2019 Super Bowl spots and was in charge of the sound design and final mix for five others. John is known for his work on The Spoils of Babylon(which was nominated for an Emmy for best main title theme song), The Bachelorette, Sleeping with Other People, The House,and I’m Sorry(Hulu), among others. He is currently working on a musical for Netflix.

This album contains no booklet.